28 best Illustrator tutorials

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Digital Arts Staff

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Author: Digital Arts Staff

Author: Leading artists teach you techniques for Adobe Illustrator across vector art, vector graphics, typography, pattern design and more

Adobe's vector design and art tool Illustrator can appear to have a daunting number of tools – tools that Adobe is adding to on a regular basis – but whatever you want to do with it, we have the tutorial for you here. Whether you want to create a stunning illustrations, informative infographics or artful type, check out our list of the top 25 Illustrator tutorials, written by some of the world's leading illustrators and designers.

Step 1

Adobe's vector design and art tool Illustrator can appear to have a daunting number of tools – tools that Adobe is adding to on a regular basis – but whatever you want to do with it, we have the tutorial for you here. Whether you want to create a stunning illustrations, informative infographics or artful type, check out our list of the top 25 Illustrator tutorials, written by some of the world's leading illustrators and designers.

Step 3

It’s easy to associate vectors with flat shapes – but creating Illustrator images with real depth needn’t be a headache. In this tutorial, Thomas Burden (who works under the name ...There Will Be Unicorns) shows how you can create striking, vibrant work in Illustrator using a simple colour palette and basic blur effects – particularly Illustrator’s built-in Gaussian Blur effects.

Step 4

While you might think this has been painstakingly created using a 3D suite such as Cinema 4D or Maya, it's actually relatively simple to produce using Illustrator’s Blend tool and some practice at drawing the underlying structure freehand.

Step 6

Many works that look complicated are really made from simple elements. In this tutorial, Russian artist Alexandra Zutto shows how to build up complex, beautiful images by patiently layering and building up small, straightforward segments, always varying them to prevent monotony.

Step 7

With all the tools and effects that Adobe Illustrator has to offer, it can sometimes be hard to achieve a sense of depth and atmosphere within your images. Often they can come out looking flat and very two-dimensional.

In this tutorial, Bristol-based artist Ben Steers will show you how he uses gradient effects and opacity masks to overcome this, as he takes you through how he created his piece, Gone Karting.

Step 8

Texture can really add depth and a tangible quality to vector illustrations. In this tutorial, illustrator Jeffrey Bowman discloses the techniques he uses to create texture and then explains how he adds this to his work.

Step 9

In this tutorial, Ben the Illustrator will guide you through getting started with Kuler and then using your colour palettes in Illustrator. We’ll also go through another new function in Illustrator CC, the Image Brush tool, where we’re able to apply a jpg or bmp image to a brushstroke.

Step 10

Jonny Wan’s distinctive, fresh illustrations manage to seem both mechanical and handmade: their characters are composed of intricate, symmetrical vector shapes so that they seem almost clockwork, yet the finishes he applies remind us of woodcuts.

In this tutorial you’ll learn how to combine, merge, and manipulate ships in Illustrator to create an intricate illustration based on a Russian doll.

If you’d prefer to concentrate on the texturing and colouring aspects of the tutorial, we've included the vector art.

Step 11

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to create the characters from scratch, including the thought processes and sketching help, as well as developing your own ideas.

You’ll also learn some creative techniques in Illustrator to help give your characters some distinguishing attributes, as well as gaining new confidence with its much-feared Pen tool and the Pathfinder palette to create shapes.

Step 12

Joshua Smith, aka maverick illustrator Hydro74, has a style that’s instantly recognisable – combining the thick, clean lines of graffiti with the iconography of tattoos and the symmetry and patterns of vector art. Here he takes you through how he created his latest work, based around his regular motifs of skulls and swirls mixed with this spring/summer’s illustration icon, the owl.

As you follow this tutorial, you’ll discover lots of tricks to help you create better art and work faster in Illustrator. You’ll learn how to improve your skills with line art, shading using flat fills and colour techniques for limited palettes (to keep printing costs down).

Step 13

Here, illustrator Tim Smith details some of the intriguing yet surprisingly simple theory behind the isometric projection. He provides insightful tips and tricks to help pull off detailed isometric illustrations with ease as he offers up his experience in using this technique to create illustrations with witty narrative.

Step 14

For this tutorial, Martijn details how he would produce an illustrated mascot to serve as part of a larger branding concept for an importer of African coffee and coco beans. He has created this depiction of a lion, which in its pose and demeanour is meant to represent nobility, pride, aspiration and achievement, but it also has to be nimble and active.

Step 16

Infographics, such as the one opposite, are great visual tools for communicating large amounts of data. Breaking down large amounts of abstract data, they place the information in context and transform it into tangible and useful knowledge.

Step 18

As Polish illustrator Karol Gadzala jokingly puts it: “We live in hard times, so we have to learn how to fake our gold and diamonds”.

In this tutorial, he reveals how to add bling to typography, while retaining a sense of fun. The ‘off-axis front’ perspective, vector look and repeated elements give it a style that draws on 16-bit computer games.

Step 19

Here Radim Malinic shows you how to create the semblance of words spelt out in melted chocolate. You’ll be encouraged to speed up at times, while at other times you’ll need to linger over tiny details to create that ultra-realistic look, fit for any advertising campaign or logo.

Step 20

One great way to make your type stand out is to add the appearance of your graphic being made from a shiny liquid such as paint, with the shape of its drips and the appearance of liquid highlights adding to the 3D effect.

Here Logan Brinkley from Welsh digital design agency Carbon Studio shows how to apply such techniques to a type-based illustration with an inverted triangular shape. Why? Because triangles are cool.

Step 21

In this tutorial, Melbourne-based type artist Bobby Haiqalsyah details how he creates vintage-style pieces through the interesting use of original reference materials, a methodical approach and judicious use of Illustrator’s Blend and Offset Path functions.

Step 22

This tutorial’s featured artwork began life when Adam Pointer was commissioned by design agency Zip (zipdesign.co.uk) to produce a piece promoting the Sunday night event at the now-defunct London West End club, The End.

Adam recently reworked the original, and here he takes us through how he created and assembled the different elements to bring an art deco feel to type illustration.

Step 23

In this tutorial, Imakethings (known to his mum as Andrew Groves) shows you how to make a repeat pattern based on map-like imagery. He uses simple shapes and icons to illustrate geographical features from a bird’s-eye point of view similar to those used in OS maps.

Step 27

In this tutorial, illustrator Alex Mathers introduces the work process behind many of his vector landscapes, and details how, by using Illustrator CS6’s updated Pattern tool, he adds further depth and ease to the illustration.